it's gonna be JUnE!! (between the pages)
welcome to june!
can we call it summer reading since it’s already hotter than 95 degrees here and our daily afternoon thunderstorms are rolling in on humidity’s too-oft cue?
here on this post you’ll find all of mondays’ weekly reading book reviews as they happen each week (direct from my living room!), as well as LINKS to learn more (&/or collect!) each title at bookshop.org*. (unless otherwise specified.)
thanks for watching. thanks for reading. thanks for keeping my TBR mountains growing.
here for the flavor of the day (double the cookie*dough, please),
xo,
*hallie :)
*you can also see all of my recommended reading titles collected over the years on my bookhsop.org affiliate page HERE. they’re organized by genre and otherwise for your book-hoarding convenience & pleasure. :)
✨📖 weekly reading book review june 2026: episode one. 📖✨
💚 here’s what i read this week:
🌿 LANNY by max porter
https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9781644450208
👻 GRANDPERE’S GHOST SWAMP by rachel m. marsh
https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9780063325432
🎉 currently reading:
🖤 BABEL by r. f. kuang (struggling to function, i just wanna read this book!!!)
https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9780063021433
😎 reading next (possibly likely fer sure):
🎭 CASTING APRIL by wendy lu (out june 16!!!!)
https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9798217030286
🔎 BUBBLEGUM SHOES: THE CASE OF THE CONTRABAND CLOSET by goldy maldavsky
(out tomorrow, june 2!)
https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9780593813799
💙 MONTGOMERY BONBON: SABOTAGE AT SEA by alasdair beckett-king
https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9781536241716
hope to finish watching:
🎬 THE MUPPETS (2011)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1204342/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
💚 hope to see:
🎭 FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL opening this week at the warehouse theatre
https://warehousetheatre.com/shows/footballx4/
🎧 & listening to, as ever:
💛 @whatwentwrongpod
🩵 @truesunlightpod
❤️ @plottwist_pod
& 💙 @storykindpod
wishing you all a suuuuuuper*dee*doooopeer magical story*worthy monday!!
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review june 2026: episode two!! 📖✨
☕️ this week i read:
🖤 BABEL by r. f. kuang
💙 SABOTAGE AT SEA (MONTGOMERY BONBON NO. 4) by alasdair beckett-king, illustrated by claire powell
🩷 DON’T CALL IT ART: 10 WAYS TO CREATE LIKE A KID AGAIN by austin kleon
📚 currently reading:
🧡 DINNER AT THE NIGHT LIBRARY by hika harada (has: characters & setting; what it doesn’t need/have: high stakes. yay!!)
📚 got to see:
🎭 FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL (OR I LOVE LAVE DASH) by kristoffer diaz (world premiere at the warehouse theatre!!)
https://warehousetheatre.com/shows/footballx4/
📺 currently watching:
❤️🩹 REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955; hello, bleak cruelty of existentialist dread and misunderstood teenagers & anxiety-laden &/or absentee parenting. gahhhhhh )
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
🤍 MODERN FAMILY (because 😂)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442437/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
📚 miiiiiiight happen to read next:
💜 THE SWAN’S DAUGHTER by roshani chokshi
💛 ALL THE MISSING GIRLS by megan miranda
❤️ MONSTERS IN THE ARCHIVES: MY YEAR OF FEAR WITH STEPHEN KING by caroline bicks (i guess i can read nonfiction if it’s about the creative process 🥰📝🫣)
💚 MAIN CHARACTERS by bobby palmer (my 1 of 3 book of the month picks ! releases 6/30!)
try book of the month for $5 with my referral link: https://www.mybotm.com/4fk6zo9eig4 (thanks! more free books for me = more reviews for you!) ;)
🥳 in other news….
🖍️ crayon box happy (sticker) mail going out today; new process video coming this week; “dracula 3x” prints & stickers may be in your future; and st, joan the opossum gets it! & i hope to see the upstate shakespeare festival’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM if this week’s shows don’t get rained out! 🥰✨😎
🥳
much lucky charm (only-marshmallows, if you prefer) love & more stories to you,
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review june 2026: episode three!! 📖✨
🥳 this week i read:
🧡 DINNER AT THE NIGHT LIBRARY by hika hirada
💙 THE TEMPEST by wm shakespeare
🖤 ALL THE MISSING GIRLS by megan miranda (not for me; it was SWEET HOME ALABAMA meets dad with dementia meets missing persons cold cases + sibling drama + past trauma + told backwards & my brain couldn’t 😅🤪🫠)
(i was also gifted THE LAST TO VANISH from the publisher, so it’s not like i’ll never read another MM book, but whew. that one got DNF’ed about 3x along the way…!😵💫 )
📚 sooooo close to done with:
💜 CASTING APRIL by wendy lu (theatre kids! middle school friendships & jealousy + disability rep + diverse cast + teacher drama! yaaaayyyyy!!! and a school paper & parent expectations too! 🥰🥳😎🩵🤗🎭)
got to see:
❤️ HADESTOWN (teen edition) at the south carolina children’s theatre (!! they extended the sold*out run—- so not too late to get tx!!)
https://scchildrenstheatre.org/shows/hadestown-teen-edition/
💃🏽 also currently reading & maybe reading next:
🤍 MAKE BELIEVE: ON TELLING STORIES TO CHILDREN by mac barnett (talk about industry drama 😂🫣)
🩶 TIMON OF ATHENS by wm shakespeare
🩵 THE MURDER AT WORLD’S END by ross montgomery (for next week’s book club discussion!)
🩷 WHERE YOU SEE YOURSELF by claire forrest
💛 SINGULAR SENSATION: THE TRIUMPH OF BROADWAY by michael riedel
🤎 BEN AND ME by robert lawson
❤️ SYLLABUS: NOTES FROM AN ACCIDENTAL PROFESSOR by lynda barry
🥳📚📖🎭✏️
what stories are you loving right now?!
🎬🏀📝🏰📺🎟️🎨🎧🩰
off to edit my own,
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review june 2026: episode four!! 📖✨
🚙 hullo from my solo writing retreat (friend’s apt floor)! here’s what i read this week:
🎭 SINGULAR SENSATION: THE TRIUMPH OF BROADWAY by michael riedel (nonfiction & terrific!! everything from phantom to les miz, the producers, the “disneyfication” of broadway, accounting scandals, theatre renovations, and then some! can’t wait to read his first one: RAZZLE DAZZLE: THE BATTLE FOR BROADWAY, too!!)
🌳 MY JASPER JUNE by laurel snyder (middle grade summer adventures with big things afoot)
✒️ A LONG GAME: NOTES ON WRITING FICTION by elizabeth mcCracken (the perfect anti-but-also craft book; wisdom, humour, & honest truths of a creative life; i wish to quote it all at you, but go get your own copy, ohkay?!)
📚 currently reading:
📘 MURDER AT WORLD’S END by ross montgomery (grown*up upstairs/downstairs locked*room mystery caper in 1910 england during the appearance of halley’s comet )
🔎 miiiiiight/probably reading next:
🩷 COYOTE LOST & FOUND by dan gemeinhart
🖤 THE BLONDE IDENTITY by ally carter
🥳 let me know what stories you’re loving right now!!
off to edit the messy, awful thing into something i might actually share with a friend,
📝xo,
*hallie 🤓
✨📖 weekly reading book review june 2026: episode five!! 📖✨
😎 here’s what i read this week:
🩵 THE MURDER AT WORLD’S END by ross montgomery
forthcoming sequel listed on barnes & noble’s website here! :)
🩷 WHEN THE MUSEUM IS CLOSED by emi yagi
💖 THE BLONDE IDENTITY by ally carter (i looooooovedddddd it!!!!! 🥹😂😂😂😂😂)
i neeeeed the second book: https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9780063386976
🥳 currently reading the amazing:
❤️🔥 THE CHILDREN by melissa albert (amaze amaze amaze!!!!!)
📚 miiiiight read next:
💙 PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE by ao omae
🧡 TIMON OF ATHENS by wm shakespeare
not my copy, but the one bookshop.org has here: https://bookshop.org/a/5254/9780140714876
🤍 GLASS SWORD by victoria aveyard
(i’ve got a “vintage” edition from my used bookshop, but golly there are some stunning re-releases/collector’s editions out there!!)
also probably gonna read, but forgot to show you:
🩵 THE PRINCESS SWAP: THE FROG PRINCESS AND PETER PAN (OR, WENDY DARLING AND THE SECRET PRINCE) by kim bussing (i loooove this series, and this is her fourth one and it comes out next tuesday! july 7! hurray!!)
😄 hurray for books and stories and authors and librarians & booksellers & bookclubs
&, you know, you!! 🥰💘
with an early bed time for the sake of the page,
💖xo,
*hallie 🤓
after all of that, here are my personal favourite reads of the month!
so were there ever to be proof of my eclectic reading tastes, i think my (not-too-edited) stack of favourite reads of the month is it?
so, in no particular order, except from top to bottom o' the stack, here are the books i happened to enjoy most this month:
💖 THE BLONDE IDENTITY, by ally carter
hilarious and in on its own tropes, full of surprises and swoon, daring do, + some amnesia and twin-swapping. did i mention the hot guy spy? (adult romcom/adventure)
💖 A LONG GAME: NOTES ON WRITING FICTION, by elizabeth mcCracken
quippy advice and wisdom from a prolific writer and renowned professor. it's only advice. take what works for you. all art is taste-based anyway. just know your tools and keep your voice. (craft/humor/creativity)
💖 DINNER AT THE NIGHT LIBRARY, by hika harada
you know i love a japanese fiction in translation and i loved the episodic snippets of a library who collects the personal libraries of famous authors. distinct characters and subtle motivataions. just a cute (physically), elegant, cozy book with low stakes for the win.
💖 MONTGOMERY BONBON (NO. 4): SABOTAGE AT SEA, by alasdair beckett-king, illustrated by claire powell
do i love the cross-section of the not-so-historical ship museum or all the twists and turns of a ten-year old detective in disguise the most? i don't care. this middle grade series is just funny and clever and i love it all.
💖 CASTING APRIL, by wendy lu
a middle grade debut that's not only theatre kids (yay theatre kids!!), but takes a real look at living with a disability and how others (teachers, classmates, parents, rivals?!) maybe perhaps (unwittingly) perceive you and your own dreams a bit differently.
💖 BABEL, by r.f. kuang
sure you'll find differing opinions on this one. and sure, i included it in last month's fave reads even though i was only half-way through. but i found it smart and accessible and brilliant. it's not just language and linguistics and the power (magic) of words, but colonization and power and rebellion and the oppressed having the real power (magic).
(adult speculative fantasy/alternate history)
💖 SINGULAR SENSATION: THE TRIUMPH OF BROADWAY, by michael riedel
do i browse the drama section at the bookstore perhaps too frequently? of course not! it's just the right amount to get my wannabe jazz hands under control. i enjoyed every page of this one, and even more so in reflection. it's producers, and THE PRODUCERS, on & aspiring to the great white way. it's 42nd street and ragtime and traveling shows and the british invasion (mackintosh and sir andrew weber), julie taymor's puppetry experience and the disneyfication of times square and SO MUCH MORE.
(also, props to me for reading and loving TWO nonfiction books this month, right??)
💖 THE CHILDREN, by melissa albert
it's one of those books that feels like it was written just for me. its an examined life of a perceived perfect childhood roaming the magical woods--but while your famous author mother and actor-turned-painter father leave you and your brother to fend for yourselves. there's loss (i'm only half-way through, still waiting to learn about THE FIRE) and sibling reckonings and i'm just soaking in the spectacular writing and mash-up of all the things that resonate with me about art and writing and fame and fortune and nyc.
(her adult fiction debut!)
💖 THE SKELETON AND THE CAT, by brandon james scott
this v. saturated, v. colourful (golly, the new ink smells fantastic if that's a reason you buy books, too) picture book is gonna be living on my coffee table (er, antique piano bench) for a while. technically, it doesn't come out till tuesday (7/7), but my bookstore had it out early and i snagged it.
little short stories about, you guessed it: a skeleton and a cat. there's tea and sandwhiches and frolicking in the garden and new constellations and it's charming and colourful and spooky cute goodness on every beautiful page.
(author-illustrator picture book for all ages!)
here's to seeing what JULY's PaGES have in store!!
here's to the stories and then some,
💖xo,
*hallie :)